When he’s not taking orders from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is trolling people on Twitter. Here’s what he’s been up to over the past couple of weeks.
On Oct. 22, Zarif claimed that the U.S. is stealing Iraq from its people. This is a popular Iranian claim, but one with a simple, sustaining purpose: to distract from Iran’s effort to steal Iraqi and Lebanese democracy.
Exactly what country is it that Iraqis who rose up to defend their homes against ISIS return to? Shameful US FP, dictated by petrodollars.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 22, 2017
The next day, Zarif claimed that U.S. policy is driven by the arms trade and Iran’s policy by the pursuit of mutual understanding. What he neglected to mention, however, is that Iran’s notion of dialogue has a distinctly explosive character.
Unlike the U.S.—which sees regional conflict in its interest to sell more arms—we desire more dialog with and between all our neighbors.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 23, 2017
Two days later, the former ambassador to the United Nations regurgitated the all-time favorite hardliner trope. Namely, the assertion that because of its role in the 1953 Mosaddegh coup, the U.S. must always make special concessions to win Iranian trust. Here Iran wants to spread the belief that it is the revolutionary republic that has been offended by U.S. aggression and not the other way around. Of course, it’s bull excrement. While the 1953 coup was an unjustified act by the U.S. and U.K., it is ancient history by now. Iran simply uses that history to elicit sympathy from the Western Left and academics.
US changed one elected govt in Iran— in 1953. It has tried a repeat since 79. Iranians not fooled by US game & unmoved by fake sympathy. 1/
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 26, 2017
Then it was the turn of the CIA and the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to face Zarif’s wrath. Recognizing that the Trump administration has rightly called out Iran for its support of al Qaeda, Zarif is twisting in the wind. He has nothing to say because he knows Iran has been caught red-handed. So instead, he lies and follows in the Russian modus operandi of cultivated conspiracies.
A record low for the reach of petrodollars: CIA & FDD fake news w/ selective AlQaeda docs re: Iran can’t whitewash role of US allies in 9/11
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 2, 2017
On Monday, the foreign minister targeted Iran’s number two regional adversary, Saudi Arabia. Expect similar Zarif rants in the coming weeks as he attempts to throw Mohammed bin Salman off balance.
KSA is engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilizing behavior & risky provocations. It blames Iran for the consequences.4/
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 6, 2017
But this Wednesday, Zarif brought out a trolling weapon of mass destruction.
As we inch closer to end of Syrian nightmare through inclusive dialog, we must do same for Yemen. Not impose new crises by bombings, threats or resignations. There’s no crisis that diplomacy cant resolve.We proved that once. Iran aims to secure peace to exclusion of no one.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 8, 2017
I describe this as a trolling WMD because it utterly twists the destructive reality Iran has reaped in Syria alongside President Bashar Assad, the Lebanese Hezbollah, and Russia. Since 2011, Iran has assisted Assad in barrel bombing, gassing, starving, torturing and hanging hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians. The reality speaks to Zarif and Iran’s version of peace as requiring either submission or death.
As it pertains to Twitter, Iran’s foreign minister is the ultimate Internet troll, with unfortunate real-life consequences.
